Obedience to God’s will

As Catholics, we have a beautiful intercessor, the Virgin Mary, to whom we pray for protection and guidance. During the month of May, one of the two months in which Mary is particularly honored, we ask that her gentle, loving voice help us know the way we are to go in life.

Much like the stewards to whom Mary spoke at the wedding at Cana in John’s Gospel, she simply instructs us: “Do whatever he tells you.” Mary always directs us back to Jesus. However, our hearts might not be open and receptive to what God is telling us, because we are afraid that he might ask us to do something we do not want to do.

In our Catholic Christian faith, this is referred to as obedience to God’s will. Most of us are much more comfortable following our own will, rather than the will of God, perhaps because we do not know how to discern his will over our own. The gift of our free will was intended to help us consciously and freely turn toward him. Father Richard P. McBrien, a professor of theology at Notre Dame, explains that “obedience … is the radical and uncalculated surrender of one’s life to God the Father who raises up and liberates.” Additionally, Pope Francis states that obedience to God’s will brings wisdom, joy and hope. Whomever follows Jesus, the pope states, follows the way of obedience to the Father through lowering, emptying and humbling themselves like Jesus.

We might ask how we can learn to listen to God’s voice in our heads and our hearts, to humble ourselves so we can understand his will for us. Brother Lawrence, the 17th-century Carmelite friar, taught the process of discerning God’s will through his 16 letters, which have been compiled into a book titled “The Practice of the Presence of God.” Brother Lawrence teaches “to become truly spiritual, the heart must be empty of all other things, since God desires to be its only Master.” Brother Lawrence states that when we keep ourselves at rest with God at the depth and center of our souls, we will fear nothing.

Obedience to God’s will is a practice we must be open to, allowing God’s grace to mold and shape our will, so that we have a deep desire to do the right and good thing through forming and following our conscience. The documents of the Second Vatican Council provided more direction for the laity than any previous Church council, explaining that we are to take an active role in our faith and in forming our conscience. Developing our conscience is a process, which occurs through reading Scripture, following wise counsel and prayer. This requires that we take time to step back from our busy lives to hear God’s voice and follow him faithfully.

When Jesus told the stewards to fill the empty wine jugs with water, what must they have thought? Mary told them, “Do whatever he tells you.” She trusted that Jesus would respond positively to her unspoken request. If we desire to have a more well-connected relationship with God, we must nurture that relationship through our obedience to his will. We may not fully understand what God is asking of us in the moment. But if we turn to the Scriptures, we see many examples of obedience in the face of uncertainty. He is asking for our obedience, and like Mary, who was obedient throughout her life, we too, will find life in the Spirit when we are obedient to whatever he tells us to do.

Obedience to God’s will is freely chosen. And our commitment is renewed each day as we align our will with his will. Just like the Virgin Mary and the stewards at the wedding, we may not understand aspects of God’s workings, but we are called to obedience, not omniscience.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. She holds a master’s degree in theology from The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul and a doctorate in educational leadership from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.